Author: Uriah Kiser

I'm the Founder and Publisher of Potomac Local News. Raised in Woodbridge, I'm now raising my family in Northern Virginia and care deeply about our community. If you're not getting our FREE email newsletter, you are missing out. Subscribe Now!

Fredericksburg

No Byte Tonight: Fred Council Unplugs $23M I-95 Data Center 7–0 After Midnight Hearing

By Uriah Kiser
A sign taped to a pew in Fredericksburg City Council chambers reads “Go. Away. Penzance” and “Get out of 22401” as residents packed the Aug. 25, 2026, public hearing on the 1500 Gateway data center. Council later denied the rezoning and height permit 7–0. (Submitted photo)

After a hearing that ran past midnight, members kept data centers inside the Technology Overlay District — and left a $23.4 million tax projection on the table.

City Council voted 7–0 early Wednesday to deny a rezoning that would have put two data center buildings on the Hylton tract along Interstate 95, then voted 7–0 again to deny a special use permit that would have raised those buildings from 50 feet to 75 feet.

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Schools

1% sales tax for Stafford school buildings heads to Nov. 3 ballot

By Uriah Kiser

Stafford County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to authorize a local sales tax of up to 1 percent dedicated to school capital projects, a question now on the ballot as the school division faces separate questions about how it accounts for staff events and related spending.

The Board of Supervisors approved placing the measure on the ballot July 7. Stafford Circuit Court entered the order July 20. The option became available after a late addition to the state budget following June 29, when the General Assembly extended to all Virginia localities the power to seek voter approval for an extra sales-and-use tax limited to school construction and major renovations.

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Manassas

Brescia says Manassas board used a closed session to discuss pulling her kids from Baldwin

By Uriah Kiser
Sara Brescia, left, Jill Spall, center, and Diana Brown, right, are members of the Manassas City Public Schools School Board.

School Board member Sara Brescia told her colleagues Tuesday that three of them used a private Aug. 3 meeting to talk about moving her elementary-age children out of Baldwin Elementary School. Then the board approved the minutes of that meeting, which never mention the children.

Brescia asked that one sentence be added to the official record. The board did not add it. After a messy voice vote — yeses, nos and an abstention, with no full list of who voted which way — Chair Jill Spall said the original minutes passed.

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Newslinks

News Links: Teens Testify in Spotsylvania Shooting Trial as Prince William Schools Open New Year

By Uriah Kiser
News Links
News Links

Teens testified in the trial of a Spotsylvania man charged in a Massaponax High senior’s death as Prince William schools launched the new year, elections officials offered public tours, and other local notices and events filled the day.

According to the Fredericksburg Free Press, two surviving teenagers testified Tuesday in the Spotsylvania Circuit Court trial of Tyler Butler, who is charged with second-degree murder and related offenses in the May 3, 2025, shooting death of Massaponax High School senior Michael Bosworth. The teens said they and Bosworth had been walking through the River Club subdivision after a night of drinking, kicked a garage door as a prank roughly 600 feet from Butler’s home, then ran through backyards and scaled his fence while trying to avoid deputies already in the area.

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Police Blotter

Police Blotter: Sexual Assault, Shooting Reported

By Uriah Kiser
Side of a Prince William County Police car door
Photo: Prince William County Police / Potomac Local

Prince William County police are seeking a man wanted in connection with the sexual assault of a 39-year-old woman in Manassas. Detectives also arrested a man in a separate sexual battery case at a Woodbridge grocery store and another man after a shooting that left a victim with non-life-threatening injuries.

In Stafford County, a man was arrested after punching a victim in the face at a Sheetz, and another was taken into custody after trying to climb through a McDonald’s drive-through window while impaired.

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Stafford

Amazon’s $10M Road Cash Buys Dirty Generators Near Daycare

By Uriah Kiser

Stafford County supervisors voted 4-2 on Aug. 18 to approve a proffer amendment for the Potomac Church Tech Center, correcting the district designation from Aquia to Falmouth. The ordinance advances the Amazon data center project with a new $10 million cash transportation contribution while retaining original Tier 2 emergency generators and limiting potable water use.

Applicant representative Charlie Payne told the Board of Supervisors the amendment removes an earlier request for an additional 113,000 gallons per day of potable water. Both buildings will now be capped at the original 217,000 GPD allowance previously approved for the site. Payne said the change came after design work showed the second building could operate within the existing limit once a reuse system is complete.

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Traffic

WEIGHTY PROBLEM: Region tells feds to keep their heavier trucks off local roads

By Uriah Kiser
[Photo: Esteban Zapata/Unsplash]

The motion was made by Spotsylvania County Supervisor Lori Hayes and seconded by Stafford County Supervisor Deuntay T. Diggs. It carried with one abstention.

FAMPO Administrator Ian Ollis, the Director of Transportation Planning, explained the resolution during his report. He said the draft Build America 250 bill, the proposed successor to the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, already contains two provisions relevant to earlier committee discussions on large trucks.

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Newslinks

News Links: ICE Arrests 1,300 in NoVa Suburbs, Stafford Crash Trial Delay, and Virginia Gun Ban Case Put on Hold

By Uriah Kiser
News Links
News Links

A large-scale ICE enforcement operation in the Washington suburbs, a request to delay the trial in a deadly Stafford County bus crash, a pause in the final state court challenge to Virginia’s assault weapons restrictions, and local concerns over school funding and economic development led the day’s news across Northern Virginia.

As reported by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that ICE carried out a large-scale operation resulting in the arrests of 1,328 people in the country illegally over a 14-day period in Virginia and Maryland. Nearly 400 of those arrested had criminal convictions or pending charges, including a Salvadoran national wanted by Richmond police on a murder warrant. Other cases involved individuals with records for attempted murder, rape, sexual battery, kidnapping, robbery and driving while intoxicated. The operation primarily focused on suburbs around Washington, D.C., in both states.

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Manassas

Dems OK school board hopeful who rejects evolution, partner in alleged secret-vote lawsuit — and won’t answer questions

By Uriah Kiser
Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee graphic identifying its endorsed candidates, including (bottom row) Manassas City School Board candidates Lisa Stevens, Murina Dove and Marcus Still. The full ticket graphic was posted to the committee’s Facebook page. (Courtesy Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee)

The Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee has publicly backed a slate of candidates that includes two Manassas City School Board hopefuls whose records have drawn scrutiny, but neither the committee nor the candidates responded to detailed questions about those issues.

A graphic circulated by the committee under the heading “Our Democratic Ticket” lists Murina V. Dove and Marcus Still among its endorsed candidates for the Manassas City School Board, alongside incumbent Lisa Stevens. Early voting begins September 18 and the general election is November 3. The race is officially nonpartisan.

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Manassas Park

Park panel greenlights 321 units on old car lot

By Uriah Kiser
A rendering of the proposed 321-unit mixed-use development at 8503 and 8505 Euclid Avenue in Manassas Park. The project would replace an existing auto sales and service site with mostly income-restricted apartments, ground-floor retail along Bank Street, Career and Technical Education space, and structured parking. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning and related waivers on a 4-1 vote. (Courtesy of RST Development)

The Manassas Park Planning Commission voted 4-1 to recommend approval of a rezoning and related waivers that would allow a 321-unit mixed-use redevelopment of a former auto sales and service site near the city center.

The recommendation covers Rezoning RZ 2026-01, Zoning Waiver WAI 2026-01A, and Public Facilities Waivers PFW 2026-01A through PFW 2026-01D and PFW 2026-01F. The motion, subject to the fourth submission of the general development plan and a proffer statement dated August 12, 2026, now advances to the Governing Body for a final decision.

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